


Just Another Day

by ChangeTheCircumstances



Series: Along Came a Symbiote [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Other, Peter and Eddie's adventures continue, Slice of Life, Tony being protective
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-16
Updated: 2018-11-16
Packaged: 2019-08-24 15:21:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16642754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChangeTheCircumstances/pseuds/ChangeTheCircumstances
Summary: Peter and Eddie experience a fairly normal day at work. Taking pictures, interviewing people, fighting bad guys, the usual.





	Just Another Day

**Author's Note:**

> Huge thanks to how much everyone loved the first part of this! I'll probably only do one more part for this series whenever I get a chance as I don't want to out do myself and I like making things trilogies. Still, I will probably add a fourth story after Infinity War Part 2 and Far From Home comes out just so I can give an idea how this AU lasted through those movies.
> 
> Anyways, a massive thank you again and I hope you enjoy this one-shot I did!

Spring Break usually was a pretty busy time for Peter. Even before becoming Spider-Man, he’d often spent his free time helping out his aunt and uncle and even doing some small jobs when he got a little older. Now he was using the time to focus more on being Spider-Man but also on his other job. He was so thankful he was working with Eddie in both ways, that the man knew too. It made balancing school and his two jobs actually realistic.

Now he was getting dressed in his work clothes, a simple button down shirt and slacks compared to his usual jeans and t-shirts. Eddie had told him it wasn’t necessary. Peter didn’t have to impress him as Eddie either wore his leather jackets and perfectly cut shirts that made him seem way to cool to be a reporter, or he wore his oversized hoodies and ratty jeans. The latter made him look like an overworked baked potato, Michelle’s words and ones which Peter would hopefully never let slip as her blasted comment always wormed its way into his head every time he went to work.

But either way, the point of Peter dressing professional was more for himself than for anyone else. Even the head editor didn’t mind him wearing just casual clothes. Still, Peter knew he was young and his baby face didn’t help either. If wearing more professional clothes helped him get taken seriously with police officers and interviewees then he’d gladly do it.

As Peter started to roll up his sleeves since it was a surprisingly warm day, he heard his cell phone ring. He recognized who it was and quickly grabbed it. “Ned, you don’t usually—”

“Yeah, well I knew you’d ignore my texts! You sure you can’t come today?”

Peter threw back his head with a groan. He grabbed his messenger bag, throwing it over his shoulder first before he put his phone back up to his ear. “I have work. Remember? And besides, you haven’t even told me what you’re doing!”

“Well to be fair, MJ won’t tell me what we’re doing either.”

“Exactly! How am I supposed to tell Eddie that I have to bale on him last minute and page three suddenly won’t get its photograph when I don’t even know what I’m baling on him for?”

“Ah come on. It’s gonna be fun.”

“You don’t even know what it is!”

“Well maybe after work…or do you have to do your other job with him?”

“I still don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I still know exactly what you think I don’t know because I really do know.”

“I’ll text you if I can! Bye Ned!”

“Oh co—”

Peter hung up before Ned could try to argue more. To be fair, from Ned’s point of view it was pretty obvious that Eddie knew about his secret identity. Peter had told Ned about him and Venom when they’d first arrived, though not their name, and then when Peter got a new job he just suddenly decided to invite his boss over for dinner on the first day? And was all friendly with him and on a first name basis and everything too? It was too weird and too much of a coincidence and knowing Ned, he’d probably looked up Eddie’s past and what had happened in San Francisco too in order to find further proof that Eddie was the black covered creature now occasionally seen following Spider-Man around.

Yeah, Ned totally knew but Peter had been dancing around that fact for a while now. He didn’t want to just give up their identity without their permission, even to his best friend Ned. He’d need to talk to Eddie and V about that eventually. Hopefully they wouldn’t get angry.

Speaking of V, Peter had sort of come up with that nickname. If brought up in normal conversation and with other’s around, it sounded more realistic than if they were talking about someone called Venom. So far, the symbiote hadn’t complained about his new nickname and Peter had even caught Eddie calling him that from time to time. Peter was pretty proud of it and it felt good being more and more friends with the symbiote and not just Eddie.

With that thought in his head, Peter hurried out the door. May and him had already had breakfast and she’d headed off to work. It was just at that time Eddie should be there so Peter took the stairs two at a time. He ran out his building’s front door just as Eddie picked up the helmet behind him and threw it at Peter. Though it had been super cool seeing V turn into a helmet that one day, it just wasn’t practical to keep doing that. Peter had planned to save up some money to buy the helmet but Eddie had gotten it before Peter could.

“Just think of it as an expense for the job,” Eddie had said. Peter was still a little embarrassed by that but no less grateful. He put the red helmet on and jumped in behind Eddie, now fully familiar with the best posture to ride a motorcycle.

“Stay close today when we get their Pete. It’s looking to be even more crowded than originally intended.”

“Got it,” Peter replied, tightening his grip as Eddie eased into traffic. They were supposed to be covering some protest against the president. It had started out small but from the latest reports it had blown into a citywide event. And now Eddie was telling him it had gotten even bigger? Damn, Peter was pretty sure they’d run into the crowds at any moment. The streets would be over flowing and packed.

And just like that, it took remarkably short time to come across the protest. A eighth of the island had to be completely on lockdown for this, maybe even more.

Peter did as Eddie had told him, keeping him in sight. It wasn’t really for his safety and if they did get separated, Peter and Eddie were probably the only two people in the crowd that could find each other immediately thanks to them sensing him and his spider sense able to pick up on Venom. No, the point of sticking close was Eddie liked Peter to watch his journalist and interview techniques as he tried to teach him something new.

It was nice as Peter had originally taken the job just to put his hobby of photography to good use. He didn’t think he’d ever want to be a journalist, certainly not as a permanent career option, but it could prove to be a good promotion as a job during college or something. And Peter did enjoy it, even if his perfect job was working in a lab someday.

Peter leaned over, watching as Eddie wrote some quick descriptors of what they were seeing, things people were chanting and the signs they were holding up.

“Don’t forget to get out your camera.”

“Right!” Peter quickly said, reaching in his bag and pulling it out. It wasn’t a top of the line model and Peter had found it in a trash can, but he’d been able to use his tools and skills to boost it quite a bit past its original design.

He looked around, seeing if there were any good shots as he asked Eddie, “So you would seriously just come up with these words on the spot when you had your show on TV?”

“When we went live, yeah,” Eddie replied. “Let me tell you, this is a lot less nerve-wracking.”

“Really? You always seemed so collected in the ones I saw.”

“Yeah, well the reporting part wasn’t the hard part. It was resisting the urge to call people out on their bullshit on live television and risk getting fired.”

Peter snorted. “I can’t believe you held that job down as long as you did.”

“Hush,” Eddie replied, gesturing for them both to head deeper into the crowd. Peter watched as Eddie’s face attempted to not laugh and failed miserably. Clearly V had said something funny too.

They got up to some protestors that looked a little more approachable than others, Eddie getting some quick words about their opinions and plans, his pencil quickly moving across his notepad. Peter had joked about him being old fashioned because of that, something which Venom had quickly agreed on. Eddie had gotten a tape recorder because of that, all thanks to Venom ordering it online one night while Eddie was asleep. But Peter did have to admit it would have been pretty useless here thanks to all the noise and shouting going on around them. Even his own hearing was finding it hard to pick out all the minute noises.

At least until a rather familiar one burst forth, allowing him to latch onto it.

“Wh—”

“I thought you said you weren’t coming,” MJ said with a suspicious look as she came to stand next to Peter, Ned running up behind her.

“I didn’t know you were coming here!”

“Hey Pete! You came!” Ned said.

“How could I have-never mind.” Peter groaned, shaking his head with bemused annoyance. He pulled up his camera and pointed it at them. “Come on, might as well make use of both of you losers.”

Michelle immediately grabbed Ned, pulling him close and holding up her sign. “Down with capitalism!”

Peter rolled his eyes as he took the shot. Eddie appeared behind him at the same time. “Well if it isn’t the rebel that will take on the world,” Eddie smirked.

“Hey news guy,” MJ said. The words were much nicer than when Eddie had come over for dinner that first day. A rather intense debate had gone on between the two, Michelle saying the media empowered the corrupt by focusing on them too much and other opinions. Eddie had defended himself not by arguing Michelle’s point but by saying he agreed and that if the disenfranchised didn’t get a voice, then the media failed as a whole.

MJ had nodded, leaning back with her nose just upturned a little bit. “Acceptable,” she’d said.

Now though the barest hint of a smile was on her lips.

“Want to make a statement on what’s going on here?” asked Eddie.

“Like you need to ask.”

All Peter could do was roll his eyes again, taking a few more shots of the area. MJ and Ned ended up following them around, Ned handing out food from his emergency snack pack he’d brought.

“So you want to hang out with us afterwards?” Ned asked. He leaned in closer. “Or do you got plans with your sidekick?”

“He’s not my sidekick!” Peter hissed. “And it’s not him!”

“You really are shit at lying. How did you hide you were Spider-Man for as long as you did?”

“Will you stop!? Please?!”

Ned laughed as Peter groaned for about the six hundredth time since Ned had found out.

“Well are you at least going to hang out with us? Please?”

Eddie had come a little closer at that and held out his hand. “Let me see what pics you got.”

Peter handed it over and waited as Eddie flipped through it. “The fifth picture and the eleventh one look really good. Just make sure you send these to Robbie before four o’clock today and you should be good.”

“Wait, really? Are you sure because I don’t mind—”

“It’s fine Pete,” chuckled Eddie. “Just keep your phone on in case I need you later. But it’s Saturday and your Spring Break. Try to enjoy it a little.”

“Well…”

“Cool, thanks news guy.” MJ grabbed Peter’s arm.

“And no take-backsies!” Ned added as he took Peter’s hand and dragged him away before he could say anything else. “Come on time to have some fun.”

As they both stopped dragging him down the street, Peter looked back. He could just barely sense Venom but could no longer see them. Well, if either of them had really wanted him to stick around then Eddie probably would have said as much. He was pretty truthful and V would have badgered him to stop Peter if he’d wanted him to stick around for a bit too.

“Ok…I guess we can have a bit of fun,” snorted Peter.

“Let’s go eat.”

Peter shook his head. “But it’s not even eleven—”

“Cool, work boy can pay here,” smirked Michelle.

“Hey! It’s not my fault you two haven’t gotten jobs yet,” Peter said as he was suddenly dragged off again.

* * *

As Peter was being pulled away with only slight resistance, Venom said, _Eat?_

 _Just hold on a little longer. We’re having lunch with Mary. Remember?_ “And why is this protest so important?” Eddie asked, multitasking as he talked to Venom and the person in front of him at the same time. He would sometimes stumble over his words or completely forget what he was going to say, especially if Venom was more messing with him than just talking, but he had gotten a lot better at this.

_Hungry._

_When are you not?_

Eddie kept talking with the protestor in front of him. Venom didn’t bother him until he finished with the quick interview, showing that the symbiote wasn’t’ as hungry as he was putting on.

A few weeks had passed since they’d first come to New York. For Eddie, he was basically home and for Venom, he’d slowly become accustomed to the more concentrated hustle and bustle of the Big Apple. He’d talked to Anne and Dan a few times as well, making sure to keep that connection strong and in about a month Dan would be up for some medical conference. He had promised to do a quick check up on them when he came, and if Anne could get off time from work, she’d join him.

Work had been going well too. For a while, it had seemed like everyone was just standing around him with bated breath, just waiting for him to make some slip up or mistake. Peter had been a bit surprised, asking if all that anxiety was really necessary. Eddie had simply explained that once labeled something in your respective industry, it was often pretty difficult to escape that label, for better or worse.

At least now he’d proved that he could last for a little while before attempting to screw everything up so many of his coworkers had stepped back. A lot of them figured him supervising his nephew was also helping to keep him in check, a joke that had apparently been taken seriously by everyone there. It was too late now to correct them and when May had heard, she’d just thought it hilarious so there were no hard feelings there.

Eddie was glad he’d overheard Peter’s friends begging him to go hang out too. The kid was pretty damn resilient but sometimes Eddie forgot he was just a kid, even if he’d promised to stop calling him that. He did need time to just have fun and relax. Besides, Eddie was going to be able to finish this up pretty easily. Though considering how things were only ramping up through the day, he may come back after lunch.

As Eddie finally pocketed his notebook, at least for the moment, Venom said, _Meeting Mary now?_

 _Yeah V, don’t worry. We’ll eat soon_ , Eddie replied as he chuckled out loud. He’d picked up that little nickname from Peter too. At first he wasn’t sure about it, but he’d felt how happy Venom was when Eddie had accidently let it slip. And when Venom was happy, so was Eddie and vice versa. With that in mind, it only made sense to continue using the nickname.

They made their way back to Eddie’s bike where he made sure Peter’s helmet was securely in place before putting on his own. They got on and drove back into the main traffic, getting out of the touristy areas and shopping districts and back to the more low-key, residential ones. Or at least as low-key as New York could get.

Eddie and Mary had agreed to carpool but with Mary always refusing to get on his bike, they were meeting her at Eddie’s apartment instead.

During the drive over, Venom asked, _Will I ever meet her?_

 _Uh…I just don’t know man_. The question was a fair one and it had been coming up more and more often seeing as Eddie got to see Mary and her husband regularly now. Every time Eddie did see her there was a rush of happiness, partially just because it was his sister but also largely because they were able to make up all that lost time they’d been so stupid to ignore. Venom could always feel that happiness. He knew Mary’s importance to him. He wanted to know Mary. After all, he’d met just about everyone else of importance in Eddie’s life, at least the only people he would truly care for the symbiote to meet.

So why couldn’t he meet Mary?

It was complicated and V both understood why but also stubbornly asked every time they had plans to meet her too.

 _It’s the next step_ , V reminded him.

_I know. I know! I just…_

_You said she would like me._

_And I think she would! Just…give me until next month. Ok? We have that trip planned with her and her husband. We can—_

_So I meet her then?_

_Not definitely! Just…we’ll talk about it more when that time comes. Ok? That-that is ok. Right V?_

There was a moment of silence from the symbiote before, _It is acceptable. I understand Eddie. It is difficult to talk about._

_Yeah. It is. But we will…there will have to be a lot of planning and talk and…and I mean if we did she…she’s not like Peter’s aunt! Ok? You can’t just surprise her for the fun of it. She may live in New York but it’s not like she has a nephew with spider like abilities. She needs to be eased into it slowly before you fully come out. If we even went through with it._

_I understand Eddie. I will listen to you._

Eddie could tell Venom meant it as he could feel just how nerve wracking and important that discussion would be if they did go through with it. He could feel V changing some of the chemicals that had begun coursing through Eddie during the conversation, calming him down and helping him to breathe easier.

He felt fine by the time that they arrived at his apartment building and he recognized his sister’s car nearby. A quick glance showed she wasn’t in there. She must have arrived earlier than planned and had probably gone up to let herself in.

Eddie parked the bike and they quickly headed up the stairs, both excited about getting ready to eat. As they got onto his floor and came close to the apartment though, they suddenly slowed. Peter they could sense really easily. Riot had been like a blaring warning sign when he’d been near. Eddie wouldn’t have been surprised if other powered people were easily sensed by V. They probably even carried their own unique feel.

Just normal people on the other hand were more difficult to detect and separate if they weren’t an immediate threat. Still, as long as they weren’t in a massive crowd, Venom could usually count how many there were and the information that was fed to Eddie allowed him to usually figure out sex. It still gave them an upper hand in fighting but it was also giving Eddie the upper hand now.

Two people were in his apartment. One he was almost positive was his sister. The other…probably male but he couldn’t be sure. He didn’t sense danger, V would have already taken control if he had, but Eddie could still feel the symbiote tensing. Mary hadn’t said anything about bringing her husband along and as they got closer, Eddie was pretty sure it wasn’t him. Who the hell was in his apartment?

Knowing Mary would have locked the door behind her, Eddie slowly took out his keys and unlocked it, ready for anything. However, even as he slowly turned the knob and finally pushed the door open, he still didn’t sense any immediate danger.

“Mary?” Eddie cautiously asked as he inched in.

“Oh! Hey little brother. You should have told me you couldn’t make lunch for work.”

Eddie blinked. What work…

He looked at the man standing next to Mary.

Anthony Stark stared back.

Eddie had to blink a couple more times to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating.

“And like I said,” Stark suddenly put in with a large smile and all charm, “it’s not a full interview. We just had some things we needed to discuss. Nothing to worry about at all.”

“Yeah,” Eddie replied as he looked suspiciously at the man. “Won’t take a moment Mary. I’ll see you in the car.”

“Fine by me.” Mary turned back to Stark and held out her card which he took right away. “I look forward to discussing more about the housing projects and better helping disenfranchised areas in New York and other cities.”

“Wait-hold on a second—”

“What?” chuckled Mary. “Like I’m going to find myself in a room with Iron Man and not put it to good use? I think not.” Eddie just continued to remain aghast as Mary turned back to Stark and shook his hand. “It was a pleasure meeting you.”

“You too. I promise not to hold your brother for too long.”

“Take all the time you need. I see I have a few calls that need to be made now,” Mary replied with a wink. She walked by Eddie. “I’ll see you in just a bit.” And then she was out the door.

“Wow, I must say your sister is something. Comes up to her brother’s apartment to find me and she doesn’t even—”

“Oh no! No! We are not-I mean like we us-as in you don’t-my sister isn’t-don’t try to change the subject.”

Stark blinked in confusion. “Was there another subject we were discussing?”

“That’s not—” Eddie had to stop himself as he quickly got his thoughts in a row. It wasn’t helping that V seemed to think this was fucking hilarious. “The point is you’re in my apartment and I’d like to know why the hell Anthony Stark is in my apartment.”

“Tony,” he replied after making a face. “Only my dad ever called me Anthony and that didn’t even last long.”

“I don’t care. What I care is—”

“You know, you were a lot more impressive when you were on television? Granted, I’m a lot more impressive when I’m on television. You should see me in an actual meeting—”

“Why are you here?” interrupted Eddie. He almost said, not to be rude, but no. He damn well meant to be rude. Eddie wasn’t partial to billionaire, CEOs on a good day and this guy was Iron Man and was just in his damn apartment? He wanted answers and he wanted them now.

“Right to the point. Alright, fair enough.” Stark sighed. “I came to make sure you weren’t a threat to the kid.”

There was only one kid Stark could be talking about but Eddie couldn’t help the shocked expression from forming on his face. Had Peter—

“He didn’t tell me. If that’s what you’re wondering,” Stark replied. “But I do try to keep an eye on everything here. I may have donated Avengers Tower to the city but this place will always be a part of me. I want to make sure it stays as safe as can be.”

That part seemed honest, but it still didn’t answer Eddie’s burning question. “How do you know?”

“I told you. I keep tabs. Especially on Peter,” Stark said with a little shrug. “And you’re not exactly the most secretive when it comes to transforming back. What are you? Some alien? Mutant? How long have you been on Earth?”

“We are Venom,” responded Eddie, just a hint of the symbiote’s inflexion creeping into their voice. There was no point in trying to pull one over on Iron Man of all people.

“Ok, hive mind. Got it. So is Eddie Brock the journalist still human with something else? Are there like a billion of you or two—”

“You’re not keeping us from Peter. He’s not yours to order around. And neither are we.”

Stark straightened just a bit as his gaze focused back on Eddie. “You’re misunderstanding me if you think that’s what I’m trying to do.”

“Then what are you trying to do?”

“I’m assessing you. I need to make sure you wouldn’t put Peter in danger.”

“What? Like how you took him to Germany?” Since the truth was out in the open, Eddie felt a bit more sure of himself. He was automatically falling back into the role of the interviewer. His eyes narrowed as he waited for Stark’s response.

“Yeah that…probably wasn’t my finest hour.”

Eddie was a bit surprised by that admittance but not by much. He’d heard that Stark wasn’t quite the boastful man he was in public and his ego had toned itself down in the past years. Besides, after interviewing so many people Eddie knew better than anyone that the person in front of and behind the camera was rarely similar, for better or worse.

“I’ve made some missteps but Peter…he’s what comes next. He’s the kind of hero that will lead-and I’m not putting this all on him! There are plenty of other great kids and young adults out there,” Stark quickly said. “He’s just an example but he…he’s a good kid and he’s growing up into a great man. He deserves the chance to become a good man just like he’s a good kid and I…I need to make sure you’re not just in this for some selfish reason.”

 _For fun_ , V mentally said. It almost made Eddie laugh but he just barely managed to hush the symbiote instead. This actually seemed important and it was probably best if they took it seriously.

Eddie finally walked over, arms crossed as he looked Stark over. “You know, I’ve written a pretty good number of articles on you.”

“Of course I know. I wouldn’t have come here without looking you up first. And I know you work with Peter professionally. The other professional job I mean,” Stark explained.

“You think Peter would approve of you keeping tabs like this?”

“That’s not what’s impor-I mean, it is! But I just…I need to know that…maybe you’re not in this for the best reasons but that you’re certainly not going to just leave Peter without…he was alone. You know? Being a reporter I’m sure you heard. With Adrian Toomes? The Vulture. He shouldn’t have been and I need to know that you’re not just going to…that the trust he’s clearly put in you isn’t something you’re just going to throw away.”

Eddie watched him carefully, expecting something else to immediately follow. But it didn’t.

Stark was looking away, face wrought in concentration. And exactly what did he have to think about so hard in this moment? Well, part of it was Venom’s natural abilities. Another part was just Eddie’s skills at reading people. With those two things combined, Eddie realized that Stark was trying to decide whether or not to attack.

The thought wasn’t malicious, hence why their sense of danger wasn’t going crazy. If anything, Stark clearly didn’t want to do it. He knew it would probably hurt Peter, perhaps it would even cause a rift between himself and the kid. But Stark was willing to do that in order to keep Peter just a little safer. He really did care.

“You’re a good man Stark.”

Shock peppered Stark’s face and Eddie couldn’t help but feel a little smug at that. He doubted many things surprised Iron Man now.

Stark straightened his back again. “If I remember correctly, you called me a self destructive man-child whose greatest accomplishment was not dying from alcohol poising as he shit on his parent’s legacy.”

“Well I wasn’t wrong,” Eddie replied, still just the slightest bit smug as Stark actually laughed at that. “But I’m sure you have your own colorful opinions of me too.”

“No. No you are a good journalist Brock. Perhaps a bit too emotional in your younger days and from what I’ve looked up, you’re still not the best at playing the game of politics—”

“Guilty as charged.”

“But you don’t seem like a bad man. If you still are or ever were a man.”

“Mostly am,” Eddie smirked. “And you’re not quite as bad as some paparazzi magazines still like to make you out to be.”

“I’m not very—”

“Despite not only the investors, the military, the politicians, your own mentor, and probably about half the damn citizens of the US being against it, you changed your weapons distributing company into a futurist company focused on energy conservation and technological advancements, just to put some broad categories out there,” Eddie interrupted. “You’ve gone from a guy who likes to put on a big show and make a bunch of people laugh at a US court hearing, though I will admit you had some legitimate points then, to a man who has smartly guided his company and brand into helping people around the world. If I’m going to take note of and report the bad, it’s only fair that I report everything else with it. Now tell me, how can you do all that and not be a good man?”

Stark actually laughed, a proper one even if his eyes were sad. “I’ve made too many mistakes to be considered a good man.”

“Haven’t we all?”

“Hmm…I suppose you’re right. But in regards to my question…”

“Pete’s a good kid. Nothing I do is intended to put him in harm’s way. At least not more harm than he already puts himself in.”

They both laughed at that.

“I’m glad to see that you actually care about him and that he isn’t just a pet project,” Eddie said.

“I’m glad to know there are other powered people watching out for him,” Stark sighed, looking just a little more at ease than he had at the start of their conversation. A little bit of the charm and charisma came back as he said, “Now, I’ve probably kept your lovely sister waiting far too long. I should—”

They suddenly stopped as a noise came from Eddie’s bedroom.

“You got a cat?”

Eddie just froze up, V immediately identifying who it was. Oh god, how the hell was this going to go down?

His door swung open, revealing Peter in full Spider-Man gear, only his mask was in his hand. Eddie imagined that FRIDAY would have warned him Stark was in the room too if he’d had it on.

“Hey, Eddie there’s a situation—Mr. Stark!?” Peter yelped.

“Hey Peter,” Stark said his smile warm even if he looked a little self conscious about being caught in Eddie’s apartment.

“I-no! No time right now. There’s a situation down town.”

“Wait, near where the protestors are?” asked Eddie.

“Yeah an attack-just hurry up and come on unless you want me to take it on by myself,” Peter said with a roll of his eyes before throwing on his mask.

“Yeah, yeah of course. I’ll be right there,” Eddie said as Peter rushed back to his bedroom window and jumped out of it. He then looked to Stark with a raised eyebrow. “You joining?”

“I…yes. I think I will.”

Eddie imagined this little conversation had just unintentionally turned into a longer assessment but Stark was a scientist and an inventor first and foremost. Eddie imagined it was only pure manners and a respect for his and Peter’s relationship that was keeping him from directly inviting Eddie to be a test subject.

“We’ll see you there then.”

Eddie pulled out his phone as Venom partially took over about three fourths of their body. Only part of Eddie’s face and his right arm were visible as he ran over and Venom then pulled them out of his bedroom window too.

“Hey Mary—”

“Let me guess. You changed your mind and you won’t be able to make it,” she laughed.

“No! No we’re still doing lunch! Just…I’ll meet you there?” Eddie asked. A quick glance showed his sister in the car looking the other way before they climbed up the rest of the building and started jumping from place to place.

“Ok Eddie but if you’re not there in the next fifteen minutes I’m ordering. And if you don’t get there before I finish eating, I’m leaving.”

“I’ll be there in time.”

“Sure little broth-hold on? Are you ok? Your voice sounds a bit off.”

“Just-a cough stuck in my throat! I’ll see you there!”

He hung up before she could question it more, V fully taking over now just as Iron Man showed up.

“Wow, you move fast,” came Stark’s somewhat muffled voice. “So Eddie Brock. You still in there or am I talking to something else now?”

“I am the symbiote while he is still here. But now we are Venom.”

“Ok, little switcharoo then,” Stark replied as they zipped along, Venom easily matching his speed.

The three of them caught up with Peter who quickly said, “They’re in some knockoff looking suits of yours Mr. Stark! I think it’s because part of the protest was on gun control issues and weapons in general.”

“How many did you see?”

“At least six.”

“They make it too easy,” growled Venom with a large smile, his tongue slipping out.

“Oh wow. That is a lot bigger in person,” Stark said as they neared the protestors. He shook his head though and said, “Peter take left, Venom take right. I’ll get the ones who are in the open air.”

“Acceptable,” Venom responded, taking a hard turn as Peter did the same.

It didn’t seem to be the whole protest that was under attack, just one specific block. Whether they were just trying to take hostages or were going to make a more vocal point, they couldn’t tell. Either way they’d have to make sure the fight pulled away from the crowd and not towards them.

Considering all hell could break in a matter of seconds too, stealth was not ideal. Instead, Venom crashed into the nearest ones as guns fired. The weapons were clearly meant to imitate some of the alien tech that had come to earth over the years. The bullets burned a bit, making Venom roar all the louder. But besides the more painful hits, they were still able to heal almost just as fast.

The guy that they were on flew them into the side of the building as his armor started to malfunction. Venom crushed it more but was careful not to turn the man into a mess of metal considering Peter’s rules. They just completely broke apart the flying system in the armor and may have mashed some of the limbs together so the person couldn’t move. Still holding onto the side of the building, they then threw the guy up onto the nearest ledge to keep him safe before police got to him.

At the same time, Iron Man zipped back and forth, firing at guys as Peter webbed them up. He even launched one of his gadgets, the small spider zipping back and forth as it fired electrical blasts at them. There were more than Peter had first seen and a few seemed to appear as the fighting intensified. So far though, they were keeping it up in the air. At least until a blast knocked a massive sign loose.

Venom jumped to the other side, stretching as thin as he could without revealing Eddie as they just barely caught the sign. Spider-Man and Iron Man quickly came over, Stark welding one part and Peter webbing up the other end so Venom could let go. Then it was back to attacking the others.

The battle was relatively quick. As they thinned the herd, Stark finally let out a special EMP that his suit had been programming so as to only knock out the suits around them. Once finished calibrating, he activated it. Peter webbed up some of the falling men while Venom caught the rest, throwing them up onto ledges and the like. One was close enough to the ground that after Venom stopped his vertical plummet, he let him just drop to the ground once everyone had cleared out from that space.

The suits were heavy enough that they couldn’t move from their stuck places.

Venom landed on a ledge far away from the crowds just as Peter and Stark stopped by with Stark reporting in the attack to the police.

Venom pulled away just as they were on a ledge causing Eddie to stumble back when he was the one in control.

“I hate when you do that!”

A low dark chuckle echoed through Eddie’s head as he backed up so quickly that he actually fell on his ass.

“You’re afraid of heights?”

Eddie just covered his eyes and flicked Stark off as Peter said, “Don’t even get me started on that. I had to help him off the Empire State Building before anyone saw.”

“Why the hell were you up there?”

“I told V no more tater tots,” Eddie replied as the symbiote just laughed at the memory.

“V huh?” Stark commented.

“It was my idea for a nickname,” Peter quickly piped up.

“Huh. Not a bad one kid. I’d almost call him the Thing—”

“But it’s copyrighted,” Peter finished. “Yeah, I think that was one of my first comments to you. You and V.”

“Something like that,” replied Eddie, his eyes still tightly screwed shut.

An amused noise came from Stark though Eddie didn’t dare open his eyes to see his facial expression. If his helmet was even up.

“Well, it’ll take a bit of time figuring out exactly where these suits came from but…I think I’ve got this one.”

“But Mr. Stark, I could—”

“Let me give you a bit of a break kid. I’m supposed to be in town with Pepper for some business meetings anyways,” Stark replied. “This will be far more interesting than them anyways.”

“I mean-well ok! But only if you explain why you were in Eddie’s apartment.”

“Oh, right. Well you see kid—”

“I asked him to,” Eddie said, his voice muffled by his own arm. He finally dared to peak out to look over at Stark. His helmet had slid up and Eddie could see his shocked face. “Stark helped you out a lot Pete and I know he’s important to you. Since we’re still kind of new in town, I just wanted to make sure he knew I wasn’t a threat.”

“Oh, well I’m sure you didn’t need to do that Eddie.”

Stark chuckled, giving him a slight nod of thanks. Obviously Peter wouldn’t have gotten exceptionally mad or anything. However, Stark was clearly appreciative at Eddie for not revealing how mistrusting Stark had been. He had come incredibly close to just dragging Eddie away in order to keep Peter safe if he’d said the wrong thing. It was that reason Eddie chose to bend the truth a little. Stark was definitely not the man Eddie had so rigorously reported on all those years ago. He was someone Eddie could respect, though he’d suspected that for a while. It was just nice being proved right.

“It was still appreciated,” Stark replied, bringing Eddie back to the present. “And besides, this whole thing seems pretty straightforward. But if I do need help, I promise to give you a call first thing Peter.”

“And Eddie and V could help too, right?”

“Definitely,” Stark agreed. “Good luck. I’ll see you later Peter.”

“Bye Mr. Stark!” Peter called out as Stark suddenly flew away. He turned back to Eddie. “I’m really happy you guys got along. And-are you ok Eddie?”

“I’m fighting with Venom. He said he won’t help me down from here unless I get more tater tots.”

“I swear most of your money goes to tater tots,” Peter said, doing his best to roll his eyes in his mask. “Come on, I’ll get you home and we can grab some tater tots on the way.”

“No way! You’re only feeding into his-aaah!”

Peter grabbed Eddie and with a little help from Venom, dragged them off the building. Peter kept a tight hold on him as his web zipped out, Eddie instinctively holding onto the smaller body so Peter could use both his hands. They’d only done this once before when one criminal had released a sound that had damaged Eddie and Venom. Peter had ended up having to swing them home so they could rest. It had of course been appreciative, but Eddie had said he was never going to do it again.

Well, that promise had lasted long.

“You know you and V have done way more dangerous stunts than this, right?” Peter said.

“That is V! Not me!”

“Ah, do you not trust me?”

“That’s not what I meant!”

Peter laughed as Eddie just clung closer before Peter dropped them on top of a building.

“Oh come on Pete—”

“I’ll be right back,” Peter replied, jumping off the edge and rushing to get the promised tater tots.

Eddie just collapsed on the roof through a mix of feeling exhausted, a dangerously high heart rate, and feeling hungry as shit.

“You know,” groaned Eddie, “you can’t just expect Peter to give you whatever you want when I say no.”

The symbiote made himself appear, moving up Eddie’s chest, the white eyes and teeth showing in front of Eddie’s face. “But it works every time.”

“Urgh, that doesn’t mean you can keep doing it.”

“You won’t get tater tots.”

“I get bored with just tater tots.”

“Stop whining. It is not very becoming of you Eddie.”

“Oh ha ha.” Eddie rolled his eyes and pushed himself into a sitting position. Venom didn’t actually move away though or assimilate back under his skin so it ended up in a slight, almost kiss. At least their equivalent. Eddie breathed easy, his heart rate finally slowing. “Just tell me you’re taking us back to the apartment. Right?”

“No. More fun to hear you scream.”

“Oh come on! You can’t just make Peter carry us back.”

“He does it of free will. And it’s fun hearing you scream.”

“Damn it V! You can’t just—”

“I’m back! Time to get going!” Peter cried as he jumped onto the roof with his bag of tater tots.

“Wait no-aah!”

Venom helped to push them up and forced Eddie’s hand to grab the bag of tater tots so Peter’s hands could be free. But otherwise the symbiote stayed back. He freely let Eddie scream as Peter swung them back down the streets and to his apartment.

“There you go,” Peter said, the smile clear in his voice as they managed to get through the window. Peter easily landed on his feet as Eddie collapsed on the ground.

“Oh thank god.”

Peter laughed. “You good there Eddie?”

“Yes…yes so very good,” he groaned.

Peter laughed. “Don’t worry, I will get those pictures in for Robbie. And I’ll tell you if Mr. Stark ends up needing our help later. See you V! Eddie!”

“Good bye,” Venom rumbled just as Eddie moaned into the floor, “Bye Pete.”

Eddie could hear the window being politely closed behind Peter just as his phone started ringing. Eddie remained completely still on the floor but V dragged the phone out of Eddie’s pocket and up to his ear.

“Yes?”

“I must say, this food is really good.”

“Oh shit! Mary, I’m sorry I—”

“It’s fine. I actually finished eating about five minutes ago.”

Eddie groaned. “That doesn’t make me feel any better.”

“I’m being serious Eddie. It’s fine. Besides, I saw how much you were working.”

“Saw-wait how? What are you talking about?”

“Well obviously I heard about downtown. I know it’s still been pretty recent since you got back but you must know that if something super powered goes down, it spreads like wild fire here.”

“I’m still not following,” Eddie replied, the symbiote adjusting just a bit so Eddie didn’t have to quite lean towards the microphone on the phone.

“Some person was up in one of the buildings where it happened. He managed to snap a picture that’s already starting its rounds on the internet,” Mary replied. “It’s obviously you cowering on some ledge with Iron Man and Spider-Man hanging out with you. I gotta say, those are some impressive contacts. I’m sure that will help you mend your broken reputation even more. Though I am surprised you agreed to do an interview on top of a building like that.”

“It wasn’t my idea,” Eddie groaned as he pressed his face into the floor.

“Well obviously,” snorted Mary. “You look like you’re about to have a heart attack in that damn photo.”

“It was a spur of a moment type thing,” Eddie replied as V just laughed.

“Well either way, good luck with the blowback from your head editor. He’s going to freak when he realizes what you’ve been keeping from him.”

“Yeah, yeah. I got it.”

“And don’t be so upset about lunch. We can easily reschedule it. I’ll talk to you later Eddie.”

“Bye.”

Before Eddie could even let out a proper groan though as Venom hung up for him, the phone suddenly rang again and the symbiote was pressing it to Eddie’s ear.

With his nose and lips smashed against the floorboards, Eddie’s voice came out incredibly muffled. “Yes?”

Right away the voice of the chief editor, Robbie, came shouting through. “I mean I knew the kid had some crazy good luck catching those pictures of Spider-Guy—”

“Man,” groaned Eddie.

“But you got a god damn interview with him and Iron Man! What the hell Brock!? How did you not call me immediately!?”

“Well I am just the tiniest bit t—”

“Listen, even if that fight hadn’t broken out, that rally today was big enough to move to page one. But we need to hurry up and get this posted on our website today! You’ve got a perspective no other news source has! Now if only you could get a word from that Venom guy. Well if he says anything. Maybe he’s not that intelligent.”

“Rude!” roared the symbiote as Eddie quickly snatched the phone from him and somewhat propped himself up on one arm.

“What was that?”

“Nothing,” Eddie quickly replied. “Just…when do you—”

“I want you to send in what you can by four. I mean, Tony Stark? Yeah he’s not half bad but he’s practically married to the press. Spider-Man? We’ve only gotten half-scribbled notes from him and that’s on a good day! Get me that story Brock!”

“Fine,” Eddie said, groaning through the end of the call. “I guess—”

“Not working without food,” growled V.

“Ok, at least that we can agree on.” Eddie pushed himself up. “But you damn well better cook the food. I am not spending another night by the toilet because you got over excited and couldn’t bother to wait a few damn minutes.”

Eddie could feel the symbiote reluctantly agreeing as he walked into the kitchen. He grabbed an apple, munching on it as he also grabbed his laptop and sat down at the small island in the kitchen. Venom stretched out, grabbing far more food, utensils, and prepping the oven where needed.

As for Eddie, he pulled open his laptop, opened up Word, and then proceeded to stare at the blank document for far too long.

V paused momentarily in order for a tendril to carefully caress Eddie’s cheek. “You’ll think of something. You always do.”

“Thanks,” Eddie smiled, feeling just the slightest bit more sure of himself. This was still going to be weird and difficult as hell to write but he could do it. Eddie cracked his knuckles and dove right in, V regularly devouring things behind him and occasionally passing a plate of food to him.


End file.
